NORMS REGARDING THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING
IN THE DISCERNMENT OF PRESUMED
APPARITIONS OR REVELATIONS

PRELIMINARY NOTE

Origin and character of these norms

During the annual Plenary Session in November 1974, the Fathers of this
Sacred Congregation examined the problems relative to presumed apparitions and
to the revelations often connected with them and reached the following
conclusions:

1. Today, more than in the past, news of these apparitions is diffused rapidly
among the faithful thanks to the means of information (mass media).
Moreover, the ease of going from one place to another fosters frequent
pilgrimages, so that Ecclesiastical Authority should discern quickly about the
merits of such matters.

2. On the other hand, modern mentality and the requirements of critical
scientific investigation render it more difficult, if not almost impossible, to
achieve with the required speed the judgments that in the past concluded the
investigation of such matters (constat de supernaturalitate, non
constat de supernaturalitate) and that offered to the Ordinaries the
possibility of authorizing or prohibiting public cult or other forms of devotion
among the faithful.

For these reasons, in order that the devotion stirred among the faithful as a
result of facts of this sort might manifest itself in full communion with the
Church, and bear fruits by which the Church herself might later discern the true
nature of the facts, the Fathers judged that in this matter the following
procedure should be promoted.

When Ecclesiastical Authority is informed of a presumed apparition or
revelation, it will be its responsibility:

a) first, to judge the fact according to positive and negative criteria (cf.
infra, no. I);

b) then, if this examination results in a favorable conclusion, to permit some
public manifestation of cult or of devotion, overseeing this with great prudence
(equivalent to the formula, “for now, nothing stands in the way”) (pro nunc
nihil obstare).

c) finally, in light of time passed and of experience, with special regard to
the fecundity of spiritual fruit generated from this new devotion, to express a
judgment regarding the authenticity and supernatural character if the case so
merits.

I. CRITERIA FOR JUDGING, AT LEAST WITH PROBABILITY,
THE CHARACTER
OF THE PRESUMED APPARITIONS OR REVELATIONS

A) Positive Criteria:

a) Moral certitude, or at least great probability of the existence of the fact,
acquired by means of a serious investigation;

b) Particular circumstances relative to the existence and to the nature of the
fact, that is to say:

1. Personal qualities of the subject or of the subjects (in particular,
psychological equilibrium, honesty and rectitude of moral life, sincerity and
habitual docility towards Ecclesiastical Authority, the capacity to return to a
normal regimen of a life of faith, etc.);

2. As regards revelation: true theological and spiritual doctrine and immune
from error;

b) Doctrinal errors attributed to God himself, or to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or
to some saint in their manifestations, taking into account however the
possibility that the subject might have added, even unconsciously, purely human
elements or some error of the natural order to an authentic supernatural
revelation (cf. Saint Ignatius, Exercises, no. 336).

c) Evidence of a search for profit or gain strictly connected to the fact.

d) Gravely immoral acts committed by the subject or his or her followers when
the fact occurred or in connection with it.

e) Psychological disorder or psychopathic tendencies in the subject, that with
certainty influenced on the presumed supernatural fact, or psychosis, collective
hysteria or other things of this kind.

It is to be noted that these criteria, be they positive or negative, are not
peremptory but rather indicative, and they should be applied cumulatively or
with some mutual convergence.

II. INTERVENTION
OF THE COMPETENT ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY

1. If, on the occasion of a presumed supernatural fact, there
arises in a spontaneous way among the faithful a certain cult or some devotion,
the competent Ecclesiastical Authority has the serious duty of looking into it
without delay and of diligently watching over it.

2. If the faithful request it legitimately (that is, in communion with the
Pastors, and not prompted by a sectarian spirit), the competent Ecclesiastical
Authority can intervene to permit or promote some form of cult or devotion, if,
after the application of the above criteria, nothing stands in the way. They
must be careful that the faithful not interpret this practice as approval of the
supernatural nature of the fact on the part of the Church (cf. Preliminary note
c).

3. By reason of its doctrinal and pastoral task, the competent Authority can
intervene motu proprio and indeed must do so in grave circumstances, for
example in order to correct or prevent abuses in the exercise of cult and
devotion, to condemn erroneous doctrine, to avoid the dangers of a false or
unseemly mysticism, etc.

4. In doubtful cases that clearly do not put the good of the Church at risk, the
competent Ecclesiastical Authority is to refrain from any judgment and from any
direct action (because it can also happen that, after a certain period of time,
the presumed supernatural fact falls into oblivion); it must not however cease
from being vigilant by intervening if necessary, with promptness and prudence.

III. AUTHORITIES COMPETENT TO INTERVENE

1. Above all, the duty of vigilance and intervention falls to the Ordinary of
the place.

2. The regional or national Conference of Bishops can intervene:

a) If the Ordinary of the place, having done his part, turns to it to judge the
matter with greater certainty;

b) If the matter pertains to the national or regional level; always, however,
with the prior consent of the Ordinary of the place.

3. The Apostolic See can intervene if asked either by the Ordinary himself, by a
qualified group of the faithful, or even directly by reason of the universal
jurisdiction of the Supreme Pontiff (cf. infra, no. IV).

IV. ON THE INTERVENTION
OF THE SACRED CONGREGATION
FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

1. a) The intervention of the Sacred Congregation can be requested either by the
Ordinary, after he has done his part, or by a qualified group of the faithful.
In this second case, care must be taken that recourse to the Sacred Congregation
not be motivated by suspect reasons (for example, in order to compel the
Ordinary to modify his own legitimate decisions, to support some sectarian
group, etc.).

b) It is up to the Sacred Congregation to intervene motu proprio in graver cases, especially if the matter affects the larger part of the Church,
always after having consulted the Ordinary and even, if the situation requires, the Conference of Bishops.

2. It is up to the Sacred Congregation to judge and approve the Ordinary’s way
of proceeding or, in so far as it be possible and fitting, to initiate a new
examination of the matter, distinct from that undertaken by the Ordinary and
carried out either by the Sacred Congregation itself or by a special Commission.

The Present Norms, deliberated in the Plenary Session of this Sacred
Congregation, were approved by the Supreme Pontiff, Paul VI on 24 February 1978.

In Rome, from the palace of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, 25 February 1978.